


Silent Weeping

by MaskedCyborg



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Again, Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Keith is heartbroken (again), Lance is jealous but guilty for it, M/M, Panic Attacks, Sad, Shiro is gone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 13:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10514481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskedCyborg/pseuds/MaskedCyborg
Summary: Keith is a silent crier.Lance is not.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have worked extremely hard on this oh my god. Months.

Keith is a silent crier.  
  
Lance only found this out shortly after Shiro had disappeared, and Allura and the others decided it would be safe for them to roam for a little while, see if any galra are still alive. Keith had been shattered when he found out Shiro had disappeared, he calmly walked out of the Black Lion's cockpit with a grim face and hadn't been spotted by anyone since. Coran did inform them some of the space goo was gone, so he was eating. But not much.  
  
Lance had tried to catch him when it was the middle of the night to see if he was eating then, but he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. It almost felt like they had lost two paladins instead of one. He learned Keith had mixed scedules, he wasn't always at one place at a certain time. It was constantly different. One day he'd be fixing up Red, but when he got there, Keith had already packed up and left.  
  
Lucky for Lance, he'd barely caught him in the training room.  
  
At first, it was the usual sight, Keith fighting bots that were definetly too strong for him, dodging and attacking swiftly. He looked fine. Lance lost all the tension in him, and smiled. Keith wasn't his personal favorite of the team (not close at all, nope) but he still cared about him. Keith swung his sword and easily sliced the last bot's head off.  
  
"Nice one." I commented, hands in my coat pockets, walking out into the dim lighting. Keith froze, his sword glowing faintly but not yet turning into a bayard. Keith turned his head, red puffy eyes, and stared.  
  
Keith was crying.  
  
 Lance's smile dropped.  
  
"What do you want, Lance?" Keith said flatly. Lance took his hands out of his pockets and took two steps closer. Keith tensed.  
  
"You're crying." Lance stated the obvious. It was a bit hard to believe. Keith was always so stone cold, straight to the point, like he didn't have time for feelings. Lance thought thats exactly it, that Keith never had time for them. Clearly he was wrong, as Keith was a total wreck in the Keith sort of way. Lance took another step, and Keith hesitated.  
  
"Yeah. I am. I can't stop it. So what?" Keith hissed. Every interaction they had ended up in them fighting, not in Lance putting more effort to be kind to him. He was acting like regular, almost as if tears weren't streaming down his face at all. He was so strong. Lance was jealous, he was a complete mess when he cried. It always lead to panic attacks in the end. They actually weren't uncommon nowadays.  
  
Lance knew exactly why Keith was crying. From what he knew, Keith and Shiro were very, - no - extremely close, and actually joined the Garrison together. They were seperated by Shiro's skill, because Shiro was insanely smart and that moved him farther up in the ranks. Shiro was given an opportunity to go to Pluto and he took it, and then he was gone. The same thing had happened here,  Shiro was gone without a trace, like he never existed in the first place. Of course Keith was hurt. Of course he was crying. God, he probably cried back then too. But Keith just stared at him with that fierce look in his eyes despite them being red and puffy, standing tall. Usually you're supposed to be comforting the person when they're crying.  
  
 But Lance was terrible at comforting. If only Hunk were here instead of him, Hunk was extremely good at comforting (and cuddling, for the matter.) Lance panicked, and did the only thing he knew what he was supposed to do in this situation. He took two strides, and hugged Keith.  
  
Keith stiffened. He didn't return the hug, but he visibly relaxed, even if just a little. Lance took this as a small victory.  
  
"Don't hug me," Keith hissed, but it wasn't with any bite. He was like a cornered animal. A very sad, very hurt and very deadly cornered animal.  
  
But Lance persisted and only hugged tighter, and Keith's breath became shakier. He didn't bawl, he didn't start having a panic attack. He stood relaxed, and took shaky breaths as he silently cried. Lance was jealous, always, but he realized he didn't have a right to.  
  
Keith did work hard, he just got there faster than Lance did. Keith never had support, parents, and from what he knew someone to teach him basic things like reading, writing, talking. He worked to get connection, to get a good enough education to join the Garrison and start a life. He probably worked 10 times harder than Lance ever has, so even if his communication skills were never great, Lance had no right to think that Keith didn't work hard, that he didn't have feelings, that he never had to try in his life. It became so clear. Keith deserved everything. Keith deserved crying like this, in his arms, Keith deserved having friends and being the Red Paladin. Keith didn't deserve the loss of Shiro, twice. 

Lance started crying, too.

Lance was a ugly crier, it was not silent. He would bawl in a mixture of tears and snot and sadness, grief, or hate. He was loud and he would shake. But he didn't care as he gripped Keith -- now confused -- tighter, soaking his shoulder in tears and snot. He cried in shame, in guilt, but with every fiber of his body with love. Love that Keith was strong and was smart and was good at supporting the team. Love that he loved mothman. Love that he didn't know humor and chants and his temper was easy to set off. Love that he had a mullet, love that he clearly preferred men (which he never really minded in the first place.) He loved everything about Keith, and that Keith had made his way here in who knows where with a bunch of aliens in space, and had done it all by himself the whole way here. 

"O-oh my god Keith," Lance sobbed, slowly sinking them both to their knees. Keith awkwardly wrapped his arms around Lance. "You deserve so much." He continued. He could feel Keiths confused face.

"What?" Keith croaked.

"You've worked so hard and- and you've never had support, and I've been so ignorant, and you deserve so much more," Lance bawled, hugging Keith tighter. Keiths entire left arm was soaked, Keith was uncomfortable and Lance had just realized he was in a whole lot deeper than he thought he was. Keith should have the universe and more, with as much support he needed, so Keith could smile more. Keith never smiled anymore. He missed it, dearly.

Keith said nothing, but it was clear he understood. He understood Lance's apology, how much Lance cared even if he didn't know he had that much, that he was missed. But Lance felt he missed two things. He missed Lance's love, which he had not worded but was hinted, and the point he really did deserve everything. Keith tended to miss obvious points.

Maybe it was best left unspoken, for now. Maybe the few words that needed to be uttered shouldn't be here, in a training room that smelled of tears, sweat and machinery, on a spaceship far, far from home. He will speak them, later. But not now, not with Keith in his arms and Lance in his. Not with them both crying and mourning the loss of Shiro. Maybe when the time was right and the stars flickered at just the right beauty, Lance would tell and Keith would know. 


End file.
